Yellowstone National Park: Day I

2009-07-18: As I approached the park's general region, the terrain had returned to being desert shrub-land. The town of Cody was the gateway to the park and marked the beginning of the climb back into the mountains. The highway followed the Shoshone River's North Fork, sometimes along the sides of the steep canyon it had carved, but more often along its bank. I was excited to arrive at Yellowstone. Sadly, as I approached the entrance, I was confronted by a wooden sign which informed me that every campground in the park was full. I spoke with a ranger there, and was offered Western Yellowstone (in Idaho) as an option that "might" have available campsites. I also discovered that this was a national fee-free weekend, which was likely the reason everything was full. I decided to enter the park and then I would decide what to do. I traveled some twenty miles to get to the first main "town" in the park, on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. The drive there brought forth more and more anticipation as I entered the high forests and looked down into the mountain valleys. The curves and grades were a bit more pronounced than what I went over in Bighorn National Forest. This road wound around the lake and slowly descended to its surface level. I stopped to visit some of the nearby hot springs. These are strange places. The boiling acidic water kills any plant life it touches. The pools emit an a hot steam that smells of sulfur and other minerals I cannot identify. Shortly afterward, I ended up parking my car at the campers' registration center and spending the night in the back seat.